David Cameron’s director of communications feared that the then prime minister would have to resign over the family revelations contained within the Panama Papers, according to his newly published book.

Once they exchanged jokes in the Downing Street rose garden, but now Nick Clegg is trudging the Oxfordshire lanes of his former boss’s constituency – not exactly in the hope of taking the seat from his Conservative successor but in an attempt to come second.

Allies of Theresa May have released details of letters they say the then home secretary wrote to David Cameron making the case for an emergency brake on EU migration amid negotiations before the Brexit referendum, rejecting charges she did not back him on the issue.

The bitter divisions between David Cameron and Theresa May over Brexit have been revealed in two books about the EU referendum campaign, in which May is described as “lily-livered” and an “enemy agent” by Cameron and his allies.

Theresa May arrived in Downing Street from the Home Office in July with a reputation for being risk averse. The party she leads as prime minister has a wafer-thin working majority in the House of Commons of 17.

David Cameron’s director of communications feared that the then prime minister would have to resign over the family revelations contained within the Panama Papers, according to his newly published book.